Plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) films laminated to various substrates are used for banners, flags, signs and the like. These laminated substrates are painted with poster paints or various types of lettering enamels. However, banner and sign painters are faced with two problems. One, drying time of lettering enamels is too long. Two, the adhesion of lettering enamels to available laminated banner substrates is poor.
One current solution to these problems is to apply a primer to the vinyl banner prior to painting with the enamel paint. This process takes up valuable space, increases expenses and greatly slows down productivity. Furthermore, priming processes are not always effective with all paints and all vinyl banner fabrics.
Another current solution to the adhesion problem is to wash the PVC coated banner fabric with a solvent prior to painting with the lettering enamel. Like priming, however, this step increases expense and greatly slows down productivity. Additionally, drying time is not improved by solvent washing.
Another current solution to the problems of poor drying time and adhesion is to apply a special coating on the plasticized PVC film. Several coatings have been tested including a solvent based vinyl/acrylic coating and an acrylic latex coating which show improved drying time, however adhesion has remained relatively poor. Consequently, painted banners of these types experience flaking and cracking of the enamel paint lettering and design. Additionally, a solvent based polyurethane coating showed good adhesion and improved drying time, however, banner manufacturers complained that drying time was still too long.
Although many enamel receptive banner fabrics are available, no single banner material completely satisfies the drying time requirements and the adhesion requirements without some form of priming or solvent washing.
This invention provides a laminated substrate for use in the production of banners, flags, signs and the like comprised of a fabric base layer, a plasticized PVC film layer and a vinyl acrylic copolymer coating outer layer. The vinyl acrylic copolymer layer provides a surface wherein the enamel paints exhibit satisfying adhesion and reduced drying time as compared to conventional banner substrates once applied to the surface.